Up for the challenge to handle Lyoto Machida’s A-game, Chris Weidman retained his middleweight belt by outlasting the former light heavyweight champ in a unanimous-decision victory (49-45, 48-47, 49-46) in the main event of UFC 175 on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Weidman, who went the distance for the fourth time in his career and the first time since his win over Demian Maia, grounded a slippery Machida five times and outstruck the cunning Brazilian, 90-63.
The win ran The All-American’s overall record to 12-0 and his UFC mark to 8-0. It also silenced many of the critics who believed that his wins over Anderson Silva weren’t merited.
Although it’s obvious that Weidman’s in a class of his own at 185 pounds, he only holds wins over three ranked middleweights. With that said, viable contenders who could pose a threat to the former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler are lurking.
Here are three fights for the UFC’s middleweight champ to entertain next.
All stats gathered via Fightmetric.com.